Gulf high on global rich list

Of the six countries with the highest proportion of millionaires in the world, three are in the Gulf, reports Gulf News.

Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE occupy fourth, fifth and sixth spots in the Global Wealth report, published by the Boston Copnsulting Group. Singapore topped the table for 2009, with the highest proportion of millionaire households at 11.4 percent, says the paper. Hong Kong grabs second, and Switzerland takes third. The US comes in at seventh, with 4.1 percent.

“There’s no doubt that wealth will continue to grow faster in emerging markets, fuelled by strong economic growth,” said Tjun Tang, a BCG partner. “We expect Asia-Pacific, excluding Japan, to grow at nearly twice the global rate, raising its share of global wealth from 15 per cent in 2009 to almost 20 per cent in 2014.”

According to the group, global wealth staged a “remarkable” comeback in 2009, increasing by 11.5 percent to $111.5 trillion, which is just short of 2007’s year end peak.

The US has the highest number of millionaires overall, at 4.7 million.